1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shoe having a pivotal counter portion with a lower end pivotally connected to a rear end of a sole, and upper ends of the counter portion detachably connected to upper ends of an opening in the upper.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional footwear is an outer covering for the human foot typically having a thick or stiff sole with an attached heel and an upper attached to the sole. Besides protecting the foot, shoes have for centuries been a fashion item. Therefore, there are various types of shoes available, for example: boots, high-heeled shoes, court shoes, training shoes, tennis shoes, wooden shoes, sandals, etc. Most formal shoes are shoes with continuous uppers, which include a toe cup, a vamp and quarter and counter portions. These shoes with continuous uppers are often worn by people for more than eight hours per day. Even though shoes are designed and made to suit people""s feet, it is uncomfortable to wear a pair of shoes with continuous uppers for a long time. However, to take off shoes to air the feet is rather unsightly behavior in many formal places.
However, in some places, customs or hygiene requirements dictate that people take off their shoes before entering a room, etc. In these cases, a pair of shoes with tied laces will cause people to have to take a lot of time to tie and untie the laces. Furthermore, it is difficult for children to deal with laces.
Therefore, it is an objective of the invention to provide a shoe with a pivotal counter portion to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide a shoe with a pivotal counter portion that can be pivotally detached from the upper or completely detached from the sole thereby converting the shoe to a xe2x80x9cmulexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cclogxe2x80x9d style shoe. The shoe has a sole, an upper and a counter portion. The upper is securely attached to the sole and has an open rear end in the style of a xe2x80x9cmulexe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9cclogxe2x80x9d. The counter portion is pivotally connected to a rear end of the sole to close the opening in the upper. A fastener is securely attached to each side of the upper and each side of the counter portion to connect the counter portion to the upper. Releasing the counter portion allows the foot in the shoe to air out, and a pair of tied shoes with the pivotal counter portions can be put on or taken off without tying or untying the laces. The use of the shoe becomes more versatile and more convenient.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.